


A Thousand Words (An A Very Long Summer story)

by calathea



Series: A Very Long Summer [4]
Category: I Want To Go Home! - Korman
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-23
Updated: 2009-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-05 01:44:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calathea/pseuds/calathea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of the portraits (from the Epilogues to A Very Long Summer)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Words (An A Very Long Summer story)

Excerpt from _Portrait of a Canadian Artist: Samuel Davenport_ (First edition), p. 17-18

> As a student at the Ontario Academy of Art, Davenport was preoccupied with life studies, concentrating his attention on the male nude. Most of his completed works of this period -- including the entire collection of nudes that appeared in his first gallery showing, the so-called Summer of Love collection -- are held in private collections. While some, including several early studies of Robert Preston, remain in Davenport and Preston's own collection, and have been displayed on several occasions, others have never been seen since that early exhibition, with even the details of who owns the remaining portraits a tightly guarded secret.

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Samuel Davenport, to Robert Preston, several months prior to the Summer of Love exhibit:

> God, Bob, I'm SO SORRY I missed our date on Wednesday and dinner last night and probably a million other things. I just got so caught up in what I was doing. I've finished the three paintings of Rudy &amp; Mike though now. Forgive me? Come see me?

Excerpt from _Portrait of a Canadian Artist: Samuel Davenport_ (First edition) p. 29

> The centrepiece of the Summer of Love collection was a series of three large life studies in oil. Permission has never been granted to reproduce the images, and none have ever surfaced for public sale. Widely reviewed at the time, however, they were described by critics, tantalizingly, as powerful and evocative images of male beauty. Credible sources close to the artist have suggested that one of the paintings remains in the artist's private collection and is the last of a series of works he produced at that time of Robert Preston, one of the most enduring subjects of his work. The identity of the other two men depicted remains a topic of intense speculation, particularly given Davenport's contemporary friendship with Canadian sporting legend Rudy Miller, and long association with Miller, his partner, Michael Webster, and their family. Rumours of a fourth painting, never exhibited, said to be an even more intimate study of the two purported models, have similarly never been put to rest. Neither Davenport nor the Miller-Webster household have been willing to comment publicly on the rumours.

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Michael Webster, to Rudy Miller, prior to the Summer of Love exhibit:

> Honestly, Rudy, I don't care if Sam shows the one of me, you can't even see my face. And it's not like the entire world hasn't seen your ass anyway in your stupid Lycra shorts. But there's no fucking way he's showing the one of the two of us together. And by the way? I am never drinking with you ever again.

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Samuel Davenport, to Robert Preston, prior to the Summer of Love exhibit:

> Wow. I just got off the phone with R. He says I can show the paintings of him and M., but not the other one, provided I sell him the whole set. He didn't even want to negotiate the price! On the plus side, we've got no rent worries for the next year. On the other hand, it means I'm a painting short for the centrepiece. I want to use the one of you. Please? Pretty please? 

 

Excerpt from _Gossip!_ magazine, on the third day of the Summer of Love exhibition:

 

> He's said to have turned down a dozen offers from magazines to pose naked, but Canada's Golden Boy Rudy Miller is apparently no prude! Young Canadian artist Samuel Davenport's current exhibition at Echo Galleries in Montreal is rumoured to feature a nude painting of the Olympic athlete, along with one of his boyfriend Mark Webber. There's even talk of a racier painting of the two young men together, but try as we might, we couldn't talk our way into a private viewing! Sadly though, for those of you counting up your pennies to see if you could afford to have Rudy hanging on your wall forever, the pictures sold on the first day of the show, and the rumour is that you'd need to have been pretty "golden" yourself to afford it.

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Jeffrey Miller, to Rudy Miller, after the end of the Summer of Love exhibit:

> I hate you. The gallery owner made me_ inspect the paintings_ before he would package them up to send to you. All _three_ of them. _In detail_. I'm never going to be able to make eye contact with Mike _ever again_. You owe me!

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Susan Smith, social worker, Vancouver to her sister Emma Smith of Kitchener, Ontario, several years later:

> Can't tell you who it is, of course, but I went out on a home visit to see a Big Gay Celebrity today. He's trying to adopt three little boys, brothers. Anyway, it was a good visit, I was ticking all the boxes, thrilled that the kids are in such a great home (you should see the house! It's huge! and gorgeous! but also really comfortable). Then we went into the Big Gay Celebrity's home office with him and his partner to talk for a minute before I interviewed the boys… and there's this painting of a naked man on the wall. It wasn't sexy or anything, like it just looks like he's sleeping or something, but I'm looking at it and I'm like, huh, cute naked guy, wait, why does this guy look familiar? And that's when I realized it's the Big Gay Celebrity's partner. OH MY GOD. I was completely stunned, lost track of what I was saying, and the partner was babbling on about something or other, totally oblivious. And the Big Gay Celebrity totally saw that I was staring between his partner and the picture of him on the wall but he just raised his eyebrows at me. I could feel myself getting SO RED, I'm surprised I didn't just burst into flames.
> 
> (They're a really cute couple, I think they're going to be great parents.)

 

Excerpt from the private correspondence of John Smith, Private Investigator specializing in Art and Antiquity Theft, to Rudy Miller, several years later:

> At this point, my determination is that the painting stolen from your vault in August was stolen to order and has left the country. Circumstantial evidence suggests it's now in the hands of a Dutch collector, from whom retrieval, through any channel, would be virtually impossible. I recommend that you take additional security precautions for the remaining painting(s) in the series. There is particularly strong interest in the black market in the painting which I understand, from my sources, has never been seen publicly and could have potential value as blackmail material as well as a piece of art.

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Andrew Heath, to David Heath, several years later:

> Oh my god, David. I went to see Sam and Bob today like I promised Mike and I am trying to wash my brain out now! Sam was showing me photos he had from when R and M were doing the camp thing when they were like 18 or whatever. Anyway, he dug the album out specially, and at the back there's the envelope, and it just says "R&amp;M" and a date, and Sam obviously doesn't remember what's in it, and so he opens it, and it's like. Dude. Seriously. I am scarred for life. There's like twenty photos of them in bed, separately and together. Apparently he took them for some painting he did. They clammed up after that and wouldn't tell me whether Sam ever painted it or what happened to it. I only saw a couple of the pics and it wasn't like porn or anything but still! EWWWWW!

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Michael Webster, to Samuel Davenport, a few days later:

> I got the photos you sent! It's funny, I had totally forgotten you worked from photos. I was so drunk that night! (Rudy claims on about three beers, which actually is probably true, tragically enough.) Just as well we've stayed friends with you &amp; Bob. Talk about blackmail material! Rudy says hi, btw. He's put the photos somewhere safe and he wanted me to say thank you again, apparently for immortalizing my ass in its youth.

Excerpt from a press release by the Dutch Art and Antiquities Crime Department (translated), some years later:

> Following nearly six years of investigation, a major collection of stolen art, including the Rembrandt painting recently stolen from a public gallery in the UK, was recovered from a hidden vault belonging Mr. Hans Van Hoek, who is believed to have assembled the collection over a period of thirty years. Experts are expected to spend the next three or four months identifying and returning the art works to their owners.

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Samuel Davenport, to Rudy Miller, shortly afterwards:

> You're never going to believe this. Your painting, the one you had stolen, just turned up. The Dutch police did a raid to get back that Rembrandt that was on the news a few weeks ago. They couldn't trace who your painting belonged to, so they contacted me to find out if I knew. Don't worry, it's in great condition. It's started me thinking though. Can you and Mike call me sometime? I have a favour to ask.

Excerpt from _Portrait of a Canadian Artist: Samuel Davenport_ (Second edition, author's notes), p. 17-18

> As a student at the Ontario Academy of Art, Davenport was preoccupied with life studies, concentrating his attention on the male nude. Most of his completed works of this period, including the entire collection of nudes that appeared in his first gallery showing, the so-called Summer of Love collection, are held in private collections. ~~While some, including several early studies of Robert Preston, remain in Davenport and Preston's own collection, and have been displayed on several occasions, others have never been seen since that early exhibition, with even the details of who owns the portraits a tightly guarded secret.~~ _Davenport returned to his subject matter in later life, and the Summer of Love collection was reassembled in his famous Seasons exhibition, which was to catapult him to international fame_.

 

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Michael Webster, to Rudy Miller, shortly after the portrait is returned:

> He wants us to do WHAT? Rudy, have you gone INSANE?

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Daniel White, to Xavier Heath, some months later:

> Are you seriously telling me we have to go, WITH YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, to an art show that prominently features your PARENTS, naked? And possibly having sex, you don't know, but there's a painting Rudy has never let you see?
> 
> You know how I tell you all the time that I love you and I'll do anything for you? I lied. I don't love you that much. :P
> 
> Love, Daniel
> 
> PS. Send me the date, I'll see if I can get a stand-in vet.

Excerpt from_ Gossip!_ magazine, on the second night of the Seasons exhibit:

 

> Think you've seen enough of Rudy Miller, Canada's Golden Boy? You will after you see this art show! Featuring never-seen paintings and photographs by eminent Canadian artist Samuel Davenport, the collection includes a series of three paintings of Miller and his partner Mitchell, in what we can only call some very compromising positions!

Excerpt from _Portrait of a Canadian Artist: Samuel Davenport _(Second edition, author's notes) p. 137

> Davenport returned to life studies for the critically acclaimed exhibition, Seasons, which took place in Montreal. Popular attention was caught by the inclusion of several paintings of Rudy Miller, the renowned Canadian Olympic athlete who remained in the public eye through his later life due to his business, media and sporting interests. Confirming, after many years, the rumours that he and his long-term partner, Michael Webster, were the models for the centrepiece of the original Summer of Love paintings, Miller not only gave permission to Davenport to use the individual portraits of Miller and Webster (entitled "Watchful" and "Sleeping", respectively) but also finally allowed Davenport to exhibit a third, untitled canvas depicting the two men together. (See plates, p. ix-xi) These were accompanied by a selection of photographs and sketches as well as two further paintings of the couple produced by Davenport that year. Although the fame of the model brought the exhibit into the public eye, critics were also favourably impressed by the series of portraits of Robert Preston spanning the decades of his life together with the artist (plates xii to xv), and a series of painfully honest self-portraits of Davenport himself (plate xvi). All of the portraits are now held in private collections.

 

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Faith Heath to her sister-in-law, Emily, two weeks before the Seasons exhibit closed:

> Finally convinced David to go to Sam's show with me last night, since we were in Cambodia when it opened. Just between you and me (do NOT tell David or Andy I said this!!!) HOLY CRAP Emily!!! Why didn't you WARN ME?!!! Rudy and Mike were SERIOUSLY HOT when they were younger. Not that they're not hot now, but geez. The painting of the two of them that Rudy's had hidden away all these years is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen, and the new portraits are stunning. I called Mike last night to tell him that he's beautiful and I think he nearly died of embarrassment, then Rudy said something in the background I probably wasn't supposed to hear and Mike started laughing so hard he dropped the phone. You've gotta love our in-laws. David says hi, and to tell Andy he's SCARRED FOR LIFE. (Whatever! Like he doesn't know his parents are in love!)

Excerpt from the private correspondence of Rudy Miller to Michael Webster, after the last night of the Seasons exhibit:

> I went back to Sam's show tonight for the last night since I was in town, which is why I missed your call. They both said to say hi and thank you for the millionth time. Bob told me they could have sold our paintings a hundred times over. Some of the offers were pretty staggering -- good to know in case one day you can't keep me in the style to which I've become accustomed, or we need money in a hurry to fund my plans for world domination. They're going to ship all our stuff back to us some time next week. You should decide where you want me to hang the new ones -- the old one of your ass will grace my office wall again.
> 
> I prefer the real thing, of course. My flight gets in at eight tomorrow night. Can you come pick me up? The network asked me to stay another week but I've said no. I've been here a week already and I want to go home.
> 
> R.


End file.
